Fossil Forum Family,
Soon I’ll be making a trip over to southern Italy (in the Apulia and then Sicily Catania area) . Don’t know what my trip will consist of because I’m always all over the place when I’m there...but in the event I have some time to kill, does anybody have any suggestions for any cool dino activities, like must see footprints, fossils, museums, etc? I was thinking of making a trip to Altamura, where I hear that there are many dinosaur tracks to see. I may also make a trip over to Naples. I hear it has a cool dino museum there.
Lastly, anyone know of any cool areas for fossil hunting/collecting ? (Namely Mesozoic fossils)
Thanks everyone

Opening June 2019 after a long hiatus the Smithsonian is working hard to keep themselves fresh and interesting with a completely new fossil hall. Here is a quick snapshot they released.
https://naturalhistory.si.edu/deeptime/
FedEx was used to transport T rex to be refurbished

Hello, does anyone know if there are any great fossil hunting sites in Asia? I'm going to Chiang Mai, Thailand this summer for a week, will be happy to know if there is some. Other fossil hunting sites in Asia countries are also welcomed.
By the way, are there any marvelous natural history/ fossil museums in Thailand?

The Utah Natural History museum held their annual DinoFest this weekend so I was able to get some great pictures of the new skeleton of Teratophoneus, 80% complete.
The skull
Here are some close ups of Teratophoneus teeth
Now for the foot claws!

I've been a member of the Milwaukee Public Museum for a few years now since I've had kids. That occasional school trip to the museum always fascinated me and brought wonders of the ancient world to my mind. It's almost unchanged since I was a boy, but I find new enjoyment from watching my children learn, explore, and imagine the way I did when I was younger. This museum isn't the greatest in the nation by any means, but it's the biggest in southeastern Wisconsin. Unfortunately Milwaukee isn't the industrial city it once was, and the museum doesn't get the funds to do much updating. The updating they do is more tailored at putting in new electronics instead of real geological treasures. The museum works the same as most, moving in evolutionary time for the fossils records. Most of the museum is dedicated to the Holocene epoch(probably 90%) instead of fossils, but I'll show some pictures from the more fossil heavy areas. They also have an online learning center called the Virtual Silurian Reef which can be accessed here... https://www.mpm.edu/content/collections/learn/reef/index.html I've found a lot of useful information about the area from this page such as that quarry in Racine I posted about in the Wisconsin thread. The plesiosaur and mammoth are at the entrance by the Imax and away from the main evolutionary trail.

Hello Everyone,
I'm an avid paleophile and social researcher doing work on natural history museums. I am interested in talking to people who love fossils! I am doing a survey and want to invite you to take it:
Survey for the public:
https://www.surveymonkey.com/s/DFX55S6
Survey for the paleontology community:
https://www.surveymonkey.com/s/67RNCMW
You might fall into both categories! Please feel free to take them both if you want to. Only 10 questions apiece.
The purpose of this survey is to ask people what they know about fossil collecting for commercial purposes, and what they think about this. I really want to get more perspectives on this issue. Ultimately I will be presenting the data at a conference and then publishing it open-access. I want to bring "amateurs" and the public into the conversation about the market! As a museum professional, I don't think my motivations and thoughts on this topic reflect any of those currently being circulated by the media, and I think it's simply wrong to leave people out of this conversation.
Thanks for your time, I appreciate it!
- Francis B.
PS you can send me a private message if you want to talk about this further, I am all ears.

Hello all,
I will be going to Japan(specifically Tokyo, Nara and Osaka prefectures) on a free & easy trip end of this month, and was hoping if anyone on TFF can share with me if there are places to go for fossil-related activities. I have heard that the National Science Museum in Tokyo and Natural History Museum in Osaka are worth visiting, any reviews? I am also hoping to pay a visit to any markets or shops that are known for offering fossil material(too bad the Tokyo Mineral show is not on!). I am not sure if Japan has dig-tours for tourists, would really like to get in on one too!
Thank you all for your time!
Han